By DARREN GOODE and ANDREW RESTUCCIA
The pent-up demand for Senate energy legislation may doom the few bills on the topic that seemed to have a chance of passing.
Exhibit A: Sens. Jeanne Shaheen’s and Rob Portman’s bipartisan proposal to promote energy efficiency, which may be close to coming to the Senate floor. While the bill has drawn bipartisan support, backers worry that the bill could become a magnet for divisive messaging amendments on topics like climate change, the Keystone XL pipeline and ethanol.
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Shaheen-Portman is a rare energy bill that enjoys bipartisan support. It has the backing of more than 200 organizations, from the Union of Concerned Scientists to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. More than 60 industry groups wrote to Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday calling for a Senate vote “as soon as possible,” and groups including the Alliance to Save Energy, the Bipartisan Policy Center and the American Chemistry Council voiced a similar sentiment in a print ad Tuesday in POLITICO.
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